Jo Lives To Eat

So last night was the final edition of my 30th.  I always do like to extend my birthdays and my friend Nicole and I always like to have a party together.  This year we decided to keep it fairly chilled.  To that end we decided to hire out the inside of Tsiakkos and Charcoal, a hidden away little jewel on a side street in Maida Vale.  Now I love good food and I love going to fancy schmancy restaurants but sometimes all the pretentiousness and haute cuisine gets rather exhausting and all you want is somewhere utterly low-key, modest and simple.  Tsiakkos is the epitome of this.  A small and narrow restaurant, its rather haphazard walking in through the entrance filled with bikes, coats and the owner Xen's stuff everywhere - but its warm, inviting and fun and best of all the food is great.  There are menus (even though I've never seen one) but generally you just get a bit of everything depending on what you prefer.  A typical meal there would consist of a few vegetarian plates: some hummus, pita, tzatziki, incredible garlic potato salad and beetroot.  Then a simple Greek salad with plenty of feta is served, followed by perfectly grilled halloumi.  The meat dishes are cooked impeccably - spicy lamb kleftiko that just falls off the bone, or chicken shish that I always just seem to keep picking and picking at.  There's more if you want it and it never seems to cost more than about £20.  Tsiakkos and Charcoal is shabby chic at its best.

Ok, this is possibly not as exciting and enticing as it sounds, as no doubt where I'm about to talk about is not so undiscovered......at least for those who work and live in Farringdon.  However, since I am new to the area I feel I must harp on about the wonders of Exmouth Market.  To be honest, all I knew of the area was Dollar Bar and Grill - which is great for cocktails but I'm not so hot on the food since they took the thai mussels off the menu (big mistake).  Fortunately for me I have the pleasure of wondering down there every day and all that can be said is that it is a cheap foodie's heaven.  Caribbean, Indian, Spanish Tapas, Mexican, English Sausages, Vegetarian, Jewish Deli and more food boxes for just a fiver.  Seriously - when I worked in Soho there was a multitude of takeaways, delis and restaurants at my disposable but my problem is that I always want everything on the menu.  Yes, you might say - stop being such a greedy pig but really.......if you're that into your food you want to try everything - hence why I rarely ate for less than about £7 or £8.  But at the market stalls the vendors cater for that healthy (greedy) appetite and give you the whole blooming lot for just 5 little English pounds - you basically get a concoction of delights from each establishment whether its meat or vegetarian along with bread, salad, rice, sauces or whatever.  I'm ecstatic meandering through the melee every day deciding what I want and with a gorgeous little park next door its the perfect working picnic.